Saskia Cohen-Tanugi (24 November 1958 – 20 July 2020) was a Tunisian-born French theatre director, actress, educator, and arts administrator.

Early life and education

Cohen-Tanugi was born to a Jewish family in

Tunis Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...

, and attended

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...

and the Sorbonne. She studied under

Antoine Vitez Antoine Vitez (; 20 December 1930 – 30 April 1990) was a French actor, director, and poet. He became a central character and influence on the French theater in the post-war period, especially in the technique of teaching drama. He was also tr ...

at the National Conservatory of Dramatic Art in Paris.

Career

Cohen-Tanugi was a theatrical director. Her 1983 production of ''

The Merchant of Venice ''The Merchant of Venice'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. A merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan taken out on behalf of his dear friend, Bassanio, and provided by a ...

'' in Paris was described as "débordante, consolante, convaincante" ("overflowing, consoling, convincing") by one critic, who also admired the show's punk-inspired costumes. She appeared onstage in Frédéric Klepper's 1985 production of Marivaux's '' The Triumph of Love,'' as Princess Phocion. She translated and adapted ''Keter Malchut,'' a recitation by 11th-century poet

Solomon ibn Gabirol Solomon ibn Gabirol or Solomon ben Judah (, ; , ) was an 11th-century Jews, Jewish poet and Jewish philosopher, philosopher in the Neoplatonism, Neo-Platonic tradition in Al-Andalus. He published over a hundred poems, as well as works of biblical ...

, from Hebrew into French, as ''L'Orage et la Prière''; Jean-Michel Dupuis performed her adaptation in Paris in 1997. She acted in several films, including ''

Never Say Never Again ''Never Say Never Again'' is a 1983 spy film directed by Irvin Kershner. The film is based on the 1961 James Bond novel ''Thunderball (novel), Thunderball'' by Ian Fleming, which in turn was based on an original story by Kevin McClory, Jack Wh ...

'' (1983), and wrote others, including ''Le Maître des Éléphants'' (''The Elephant Master'', 1996), with director Patrick Grandperret. She told interviewers that much of her role in ''Never Say Never Again'' was cut in the editing process, including a fight scene with Barbara Carrera. Cohen-Tanugi taught at the Chaillot National Theatre School in Paris for several years; one of her students there was actor David Friszman. She directed an arts festival in

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

in 1989, and programmed an arts festival in Paris from 1995 to 1999. In her last years, she lived in Israel, where she ran a theatre workshop and directed productions at Hebrew University. She died in Jerusalem in 2020.

Filmography

Actress

*''Le Faucon'' (1983) as Carmen *''Never Say Never Again'' (1983) as Nicole *''Réveillon chez Bob'' (1984) *''7P., cuis, s. de b...(à saisir)'' (1984, directed by

Agnès Varda Agnès Varda (; born Arlette Varda; 30 May 1928 – 29 March 2019) was a Belgian-born French film director, screenwriter and photographer. Varda's work employed location shooting in an era when the limitations of sound technology made it easier ...

)

Screenwriting

*''Veraz'' (1991) *''

Little Buddha ''Little Buddha'' is a 1993 drama film directed by Bernardo Bertolucci, written by Rudy Wurlitzer and Mark Peploe, and produced by usual Bertolucci collaborator Jeremy Thomas. An international co-production of Italy, France and the United Kingd ...

'' (1993) *''Le Maître des éléphants'' (1995)

Theatre directing

*''The Merchant of Venice'' (1983) *''Docteur X Hero ou le dernier client du Ritz'' (1984) *''

Bastien und Bastienne ' (''Bastien and Bastienne''), Köchel catalogue, K. 50 (revised in 1964 to K. 46b) is a one-act singspiel, a comic opera, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. ' was one of Mozart's earliest operas, written in 1768 when he was only twelve years old. It wa ...

'' (1987) *''Bréviaire d'amour d'un haltérophile'' (1987)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen-Tanugi, Saskia 1958 births 2020 deaths 20th-century French actresses 21st-century French actresses French directors Tunisian emigrants to France Tunisian Jews Actresses from Tunis